Glasgow Warriors set to confirm Rory Sutherland signing
Glasgow Warriors are poised to announce that they have signed Scotland and Lions prop Rory Sutherland on a two-year when his short-term deal with Oyonnax runs out at the end of the season.
Loosehead Sutherland, 31, signed for Top 14 new boys Oyonnax on a deal until July after Scotland’s World Cup campaign ended in October, but he has faced a tough baptism.
The Hawick native has been on the losing side in seven of the nine games he has played for Joe El-Abd’s side, who are only two points clear of Montpellier at the foot of the Top 14 table midway through the season.
He made his name with Edinburgh, making 99 appearances, but has clocked up the miles since leaving the Scottish capital to join Worcester Warriors while he was on the Lions tour of South Africa in 2021.
But he found himself unemployed after playing 14 games when the Warriors were liquidated in October 2022, ending last season with Ulster, who signed Springbok star Steven Kitshoff for this season.
He said the summer: “It’s quite a hard thing to explain. I feel like I’ve dragged my family through the dirt with it. It was a really hard time just not knowing what was going to happen week to week, and even day to day as well.”
Sutherland was linked with a return to Edinburgh when he was a free agent and even spoke to Glasgow before settling on a move to Belfast, but the Scotstoun’s outfits patience has finally been rewarded, and they have got their man.
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All of these media pundits always miss the obvious whenever they analyse what is ailing or assisting the game. Rugby always has contentious points for debate when picking apart individual games and finding fault with itself. All this focus and scrutiny on “speeding up the game”, “high ball in play” etc is all contextual to the fan. As a tv viewer, if you’re absorbed into a game, regardless if your team is playing or not, more ball in play time and action are all byproducts of the contest. A good contest subliminally affects your memory in selectively remembering all the good aspects. A poor contest and your brain has switched off because its a blowout and the result is never in doubt or it’s a real chore to watch and remain engaged throughout. The URC, Top 14 and English premiership are all competitions that feel like there’s real jeopardy each week. The dominance of Super rugby by NZ teams was unhealthy from a sustainable interest perspective. You can’t fault those teams or the players, but the lack of competitions won by SA and Australian teams long term was always going to test the faith and patience of die-hard and casual fans from those regions. SANZAR took their eye off the fans and fans voted with their feet and subscriptions. They were so concerned about expanding their product they forgot the golden rule about broadcasting live sport. Viewers tune in more when there’s an atmosphere and a true contest. You need to fill stadiums to create one, host unions need to do more to service ticket buyers, and this year proves the other, there’s more interest in Super rugby this year only because more games are competitive with less foregone conclusions. All these micro statistics bandied about, only interest the bean counters and trainspotters.
Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
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